


Something About You

by 10milesfromhome



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 12:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7222342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10milesfromhome/pseuds/10milesfromhome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean-Paul Trevelyan is in the last year of his A-levels at Haven Boarding School, not that he actually enjoys being there. Especially after having a fling with someone over the summer break, a student from a rival school; Tevinter Finishing School. When that same someone shows up at the start of the new term, Jean-Paul begins to suspect that this year is going to liven life up around the sleepy school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back To School

Jean-Paul was not looking forward to another term away from home. Why his parents had ever sent him to Haven Boarding School in the first place was beyond his comprehension. He hauled his case and his fencing kit back to his room, praying to the Maker that he got there before his damnable roommate did. The only solace was brought to him by his group of oddball friends; Cassandra, Varric and Solas. They bounded over to him and they engaged in a group hug; though more like everyone dump-tackling Solas into a group hug.

“Get off! Quit hugging me!” Solas demanded, garnering a chorus of laughter from the other three. Once they disentangled themselves, they began with the usual questions; how were the holidays? Meet anyone new? Sleep with said new person? Solas grimaced as the gossip was bounced around and Cassandra was sniping at Varric’s exploits when Jean-Paul opened his mouth.  
“I met someone over summer” he tried to sound nonchalant as possible but Cassandra caught him out.  
“Oh, by the maker! JP has gone and got some!” She squealed with joy. Solas sighed with exasperation and Varric, despite being shorter than Jean-Paul by more than a foot, managed to clap him hard on the back. Enough to make Jean-Paul choke slightly. He coughed and got his breath back, silently blaming the redness of his cheeks on Varric’s assault, rather than embarrassment. Before he had time to make a remark, Cassandra pounced on him.  
“Oh my God who was it? Was it a guy? It was so a guy, wasn’t it? Do you know what school he goes to?”  
“Jeez, Cass, give me a moment to breathe.”  
She backed off, hands in the air in mock surrender. Jean-Paul gathered himself before answering.  
“Yes it was a guy. His name was Dorian. No, he doesn’t go to Haven… he was from Tevinter.” Jean-Paul flinched backwards in expectation of some retort. Relations between Haven and Tevinter schools were not the best when they were getting on. Currently, they might as well have been at war with one another. Cassandra was the first to respond while the others stood their aghast.

“YOU went schlepping over to Tevinter for a booty call? That is fucking SCANDALOUS” she said with wide, shit-eating grin. Jean-Paul immediately regretted telling them. Between Cassandra’s smug expression and the accusing glares from Varric and Solas, Jean-Paul thought it best to shut up and just head straight to his dorm room. He said his goodbyes, Cassandra forcing him to promise a catch up later on, and headed towards his boarding house.

He was halfway there when his housemaster materialised next to him. When he spoke, Jean-Paul nearly leaped out of his skin.

“I assume you’re not planning to go to lessons looking like that, Trevelyan.”  
“Jesus fu- ahem, it’s never worried anyone before, sir.”  
“Don’t backchat me, boy. Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. You’ll be rooming with a new boy for this term at least. He’s a bit of a renegade so keep both eyes on him for as long as you can spare them.”  
“What’s his name? Is there anything I should know about him?”  
“Pavus. He’s opinionated and could make a scene standing still in an empty room. Sounds like one for your Inquisition, Trevelyan.”  
“Onto the School Council on his first day? Parents must be well-connected.” Jean-Paul didn’t bother hide his scathing tone. He may come from money but he hated all the pomposity and brown-nosing that came with it. The housemaster scowled at him.  
“Just keep him out of trouble.”  
“Will do, Mr Blackwall.”

With a curt nod, Mr Blackwall departed, leaving Jean-Paul to haul his remaining bags to his room. 

When he got to the sanctuary of his room, he collapsed on the bed. Lugging foils and uniforms and books and god knows what other detritus he had shipped from home turned out to be pretty exhausting in late summer heat. He noticed some alien belongings and guessed they were property of his new roommate who, it had to be said, Jean-Paul wasn’t overly eager to meet. Though, they couldn’t be any worse than the last. Judging by the gutted suitcase, its innards splayed across the other bed, his new roommate had elected to take a shower in the wash room (judging from the amount of cases, he’d probably have had the devil’s own job getting all his stuff here). Jean-Paul lay down and closed his eyes briefly. He would greet his new roommate when he eventually returned from his shower. Fortunately, it didn’t take long.  
The door opened and closed swiftly, followed by the sound of someone whistling a familiar song. The song went dead and footsteps stopped (presumably, thought Jean-Paul, he’s noticed me). He sat up to greet the newcomer.

“Hi I’m Je- YOU?”

Jean-Paul stared aghast at the boy in his dorm room, naked but for a towel and glistening with water droplet. That stupid moustache he was trying to grow was a bigger give away than anything (despite Jean-Paul having memorised every part of that body during the summer).

“Well… this just got slightly awkward, wouldn’t you say?” Dorian replied with a cock sure grin.

Jean-Paul could help but agree.


	2. A New Member

“But you are supposed to be at-“  
“Tevinter? Well supposed to be and would have been can coincide.”  
“The ambling speech lost its charm during the summer, get to the damn point, Dorian.”  
“Still as feisty and straightforward as I remember. Fine, I would be at Tevinter had I not set a teacher’s car on fire. Slightly.”  
“How do you slightly set a car on fire?”  
“Well it was only the rear seats and if you are going to shut down a perfectly legitimate equality event because of personal prejudices and thinly veil them as ‘protecting the welfare of students’ then proceed to try and ‘cure’ one of the organisers, I daresay they have some retribution coming to them, wouldn’t you?”

Jean-Paul flopped back on the bed in a show of despair.

“Great. I had a summer fling with a politically motivated arsonist. Fantastic.”  
“Oh don’t be so dramatic, Jean-Paul. And anyway, I thought our ability discuss politics and social concerns counted for foreplay.”  
“Dorian…” Jean-Paul whined, exasperated by the situation fate had dumped him in.  
“Oh I get it; this is your closet. Sorry for intruding, I’ll see if I can move to another room.”  
“I’ve already had Mr Blackwall, the housemaster, in my ear about that. You’re in here for at least this term.”  
“What a glorious fuck-up all this is then.” Dorian’s tone had turned incredibly bitter. They both sifted around awkwardly, trying to wonder what they had done for karma to turn round and boot them both into this situation. After several minutes of agonising silence, Dorian spoke up.

“Look, we both had fun during the summer and I enjoyed my time with you immensely. If you wanted to continue a relationship then I would definitely consider that but as far I’m concerned, I’m here to be part of the school and to stick it to Tevinter when it comes to inter-school competitions. Are those acceptable terms to continue on?”  
“I guess so” Jean-Paul sighed. He hated to admit it but damn, Dorian became that much hotter when he acted so mature. It was maddening and only really succeeded in making the atmosphere that much more awkward between them.

“Maybe we should sleep on it?” Dorian suggested with a raised eyebrow and that oh-so-cheeky smirk that made him equal parts annoying and irresistible. Jean-Paul’s mind went blank for a second before responding.

“I… don’t think that would be a good idea.”  
“Why not? We’ve done worse than that before.”  
“Yes but very few people here know about me. In fact, I can count how many people know on one hand. We get caught sleeping together, on your first night here, it’ll spread like wildfire.”  
“So this is your closet?”  
“In a sense. Look, can we just save this for another time? I really don’t want to be having a deep and meaningful over my sexuality on the first day back to school.”  
Dorian shrugged in response, which Jean-Paul took as some sort of grudging acceptance. He went back to his side of the room and began stacking his shelf with a variety of books. Before the awkward silence could engulf them once more, there was a knock on the door. Without any approval the housemaster, Mr Blackwall, burst in.

“Ah, Trevelyan, I see you’ve met our latest addition. Pavus, this is Jean-Paul Trevelyan. He’s the one tasked with keeping you out of trouble. And away from your teachers’ personal vehicles.”  
“Oh, does that include giving me a spanking should I require one?” Dorian responded playfully. Jean-Paul choked on his breath, causing a coughing fit which Dorian sniggered at. Mr Blackwall was less than impressed.  
“Your depravity does not concern me. Only the safety of my staff and students. You have been warned. Now, I suggest you both get to bed soon. It’s an early start for you both.”  
With that, he left. Dorian rounded on Jean-Paul.

“Now I’m beginning to see why you aren’t completely open. Are all teachers like this?”  
“Not all of them, but some. And it’s not just the teachers.”  
“Hmmm… you have a student council?”  
“Yes. I helped found it. We lamely call ourselves the Inquisition.”

Dorian couldn’t help but smirk at that.

“Then I humbly ask to join the Inquisition.”


	3. Tense Encounters of the Worst Kind

They slept comfortably through the night, despite the humidity and Jean-Paul’s constant fear (or was it, in some way perhaps, hope) that Dorian would join him. He felt constantly awkward around him when getting dressed. It seemed Dorian agreed with Jean-Paul, as well as most of the Inquisition, about the restrictiveness of uniform at a school that boasted such support for the arts. While the Inquisition mostly got away with altering uniform (mainly because their parents were large contributors to the school, which did not foster good will amongst their peers) Dorian seemed to be taking his alterations a step further, which Jean-Paul could only assume meant his family had made an extortionate donation to the school trust.

“I’m pretty sure that blazer is going to get you pulled up on a disciplinary for being out of uniform, no matter how much money your family donated to the trust.”  
Dorian rolled his eyes as he adjusted the plaid collar he had stitched on and the multiple badges.  
“I couldn’t give a shit how much my parents paid to get me into this school. As far as I’m concerned that money is probably more use here than what my father intended to do with it.”  
“Which was?”  
Dorian’s whole body tensed. Jean-Paul didn’t need to use too much brainpower to figure out that it was a sore subject. When Dorian turned to him, he looked remarkably calm.  
“A story for another time perhaps. Now unless I’m mistaken, if we don’t hurry up then we’ll miss breakfast. Come on!”

With that, the subject was dropped and they both found themselves running to catch some decent food before the new term started in earnest.

Once they had eaten, they shot off to their first lesson of the day; the dreaded history session with Miss Morrigan. The old witch had a keen sense of what buttons to push with each and every member of the class, which meant her class had the highest rate of detentions and classroom exclusions. Jean-Paul had two-stepped with her since the first day of the course and had, more often than not, come out the victor. He wasn’t sure Dorian would manage to keep his mouth shut if she went after him. He could only pray that they didn’t clash on the first class of the first day. His prayers weren’t answered.

“Oh-ho, a newcomer in our midst” the old witch said with a cackle.  
“How perceptive of you, Miss. One would almost be fooled into thinking you were blind with the thickness of your glasses” Dorian shot back nonchalantly.  
“I see perfectly well, boy and I can see you spending a remarkable amount of your breaks in here writing lines.”  
“Oh is that all? Are you still using course texts from the mid-20th century as well or is it just the punishments?”  
“Don’t make me rue the day they outlawed caning, boy.”  
“Perish the thought. You’re not the only one who misses it, I can assure you” Dorian said with a wink. An uproar of laughter burst from the class which Miss Morrigan dealt with in seconds before rounding on Dorian once more.

“Right! I’ll not have your disgusting behaviour in my classroom. I’ll not sta-“  
“Pardon me, Miss but you can’t do that” Cassandra interrupted. She was the only other member of the Inquisition in the class with Jean-Paul, who was currently too gobsmacked to say anything. Luckily, Cassandra had always been more vocal out of the two of them.

“Excuse me, Pentaghast but you are in no position to tell me what to do in my classroom!” The old witch shrieked.  
“Well, as a member of the Student Council, I’m telling you that you cannot evict Dorian from the classroom. As much as you’d like to ignore the fact you have a duty of care and are here to teach. Excluding him from the class when there is only one History A-level class, this one, is immoral and tantamount to negligence.”  
“Those are serious accusations, girl. Do you want to take them back before you find yourself on the other side of the door as well?” she threatened. Cassandra wasn’t phased in the slightest.  
“Have it your way then. Dorian, do you wish to make an official complaint against Miss Morrigan?”  
“Why not? Might just give her pause in future.”  
“Okay. I just need a member of the Student Council to second the issue so that we take it before the Council. Jean-Paul, as you are here…” she gestured as if to give him a nudge. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice nagged at him. You’ll regret making friends with her sooner or later. He looked stunned as suddenly all eyes in the class were upon him. It was up to him, to make the situation worse. Evidently, this wasn’t going to go away without him saying anything so he decided to just stick is foot straight in it.

“I second the issue” he said with a resigned sigh. Morrigan looked as though she was about to spontaneously combust.  
“Fine. You’ll all regret this.”

The rest of the lesson was beyond tense. Jean-Paul tried to make himself as small as possible without actually disappearing into the floorboards. When the bell rang, he couldn’t get out of the room quick enough. While they were walking down the corridors, he rounded on Cassandra.

“What the hell was that and why did you have to involve me?”  
“Oh, don’t get your jockstrap in a knot. It’s about time someone gave that old dragon a run for her money. Plus, I thought we were sticking up for your new squeeze” her voice was incredibly teasing.  
“Keep your damn voice down! One, how the hell do you already know Dorian is here? And two, he is just a friend. It was a one-time thing during Summer, that’s all.”  
Cassandra just rolled her eyes.

“Leliana told me. You know she just knows pretty much everything that happens in this school. I’ve gotta get to Biology, catch you at break yeah?” She didn’t wait for a reply, just speeding off to her lesson. Jean-Paul unleashed a heavy sigh and lumbered into his English Literature class.


End file.
